1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for enabling a user of software to intuitively navigate through an ordered collection of interrelated sets of information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for intuitively showing users of software the logical location of sets of information being displayed within an ordered collection of such sets, and enabling users to navigate through the sets of information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A major effort has been underway for several years to make computers easier to use. With respect to computer software, these efforts are lead by efforts to make graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the software more intuitive and user friendly. Icons, buttons, scroll bars are examples of GUI improvements which have been introduced which make using computer software easier and more intuitive for both novices and experts.
One area in which improvement has proven to be elusive is associated with the display of browsers. Generally, a browser is the portion of a user interface to a computer software program or application which manages a collection of multiple lists or sets of information or data or objects which are interrelated. Users typically need to map or navigate through the lists in the collection and typically add and delete lists from a hierarchy or trail of lists. Logically, the hierarchy usually goes from left to right, but only a few lists can be physically displayed at any given time, and other directions are possible for the hierarchy, such as top to bottom, etc.
The standard browser is rather difficult to use, and improvements have been elusive. This is due to the limited amount of space available on most computer screens and the quantity of data contained in lists that the browser is attempting to provide to a user for use. A typical browser displays four or fewer adjacent containers of some type, such as list boxes, each containing a list from the collection of lists. The list boxes typically have the same dimensions and are displayed horizontally across a display device. Each list box contains a list of related data or objects. Typically, a user selects an item in the last list of the hierarchy, and a new list of data or objects related to the selected item is provided in a new list box to the immediate right of the list box including the selected item; thus, the concept of a hierarchy or trail from left to right. The trail of related list boxes can become quite long. However, as mentioned above, only four or fewer are typically displayed at any one time on the display screen. This presents a navigational problem to the user. The user will often want to know how many lists are in the trail, and the relative position in the trail of the list boxes being displayed, and will want to be able to quickly and intuitively cause desired list boxes to be displayed.
One attempt to solve this problem has been provided by Next Computer, Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. in its Digital Librarian product. The Next Computer solution employs relatively large icons with its browser to provide the user with browser navigation information. However, this approach utilizes a relatively large amount of valuable screen space, and employs a different icon for every type of list. The volume of space required for this approach and the complexity for a developer associated with designing different icons for each type of list which are intuitive makes this approach less than optimal.
Accordingly, a need exists for a browser which informs the user of the relative location of the displayed list boxes, is easy to navigate through and functionally intuitive, and uses a minimum of valuable screen real estate.